host: we will get to that in just a minute. how did you get into the businesses that you are and? guest: well like many things it s a question of taking a right turn at a corner instead of a left turn. so a lot of these things are accidental but when i was a kid the first thing i wanted to be was a paleontologist and that led me to an interest in geology later on i wanted to make some money so i started studying economics. i put them together and got into the mining business mining finance but for many years i kept up an interest in many different subjects because if you are going to be a venture capitalist is good to know as much as you possibly can about as many different subjects as you possibly can. so i guess that sums it up. host: and think of venture capitalists we often think of is simi valley and technology. i met technophile but when it comes to using a computer i use my computer mainly as an ibm selectric look-alike and something to access the internet. i p
that. i m going to tell you a little bit about the book and how i came to write it and then move as quickly as possible to questions and answers are or at least questions and attempted answers about the book and about the south and the confederate flag and all kinds of things like that. if you are not tired of talking about that already. where s that southern accent. i can hear creeping back in again. we will start the questions and answers before the talk. actually i was born in nashville tennessee and my father s family is from north georgia and from atlanta and my mother s family is from west tennessee around union city to and i went to elementary school in atlanta, and that my move to oregon when i was about 11 years old. i did my best with my southern accent as quickly as i possibly could because everybody made fun of me for that southern accent. it s that kind of thing in the lunch line where somebody comes up to you and say, say something and you say what you want me t
we ll get to that in just a minute. how did you get into the businesses you are in? guest: well, like many things, it s a question of taking a right turn at a corner instead of a left turn. so a lot of these things are accidental. when i was a kid, the first thing wanted to do was paleontologist. about dinosaurs. that led me to an interest in geology, later on i wanted to make some money, so i started studying economics. i put them together, got into the mining business, mining finance, but for many years i ve kept up an interest in many different subjects because if you re going to be an effective venture capitalist, it s good to know as much as you can about as many different subjects a you can. so, i guess that sums it up. host: when we think of venture capitalists we think of silicon valley and technology. guest: i m a techno-phile. so i use my computers an ibm ibmseletric look aligning, i use at five percent of its capabilities. host: have you been successful?
banks for coming to this southern festival of books. we re delighted to have you if you enjoyed yourself we hope he will make a donation on our website because this is a nonprofit event we would like to keep a free and open to everyone is really like your donations for that. i am delighted to introduce the professor from vanderbilt university and specializing of the 19th and 20th century literature with the social critique to country music covering a wide variety of topics. in addition to her scholarly work play is welcome cecilia to the podium. [applause] they explore spending an hour to hear about jack london a name that is so familiar but in other ways unfamiliar. some people they come of surfing with of pioneers loosely we think of the call of the wild these are books that have become classics there are reenlisted junior highs and high schools and and that is the jack london that we think we go. he went for the gold rush in 1897, he found almost as if they but but tha
dinosaurs, that led me to an interest in geology, later on i wanted to make some money so i started studying economics. i got into the mining business, mining finance. for many years i kept up an interest in many different subjects because if you are going to be an effective venture capitalists it is important to know as much as you can about as many subjects as you can. i guess that sums it up. host: when we think of venture capitalists we think of silicon valley and technology. guest: i am a tech file but when it comes to using a computer you can t kiss all the girls. i use my computer mainly as an ibm electric look-alike and something to access the internet. i probably use a tenth of the capabilities, being generous. that is not the area i get into. host: have you been successful? guest: i think i have. if i retired today, i don t want to because i want to fill my idle hours with something. i wouldn t have to work again for several lifetimes, but i am not money mot